Katherine Seney Simpson (Mrs. John W. Simpson)

Auguste Rodin

National Gallery of Art

Carved from white marble, the head and chest of a woman emerge from a base of rougher stone in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, the woman leans slightly to our left and her head tips down that way, as she looks off to our right. Her hair is loosely pulled up into a bun on top of her head. She has a straight nose, thin lips, and a square jaw. A bumpy area at the front of her low-cut bodice suggests a floral corsage. Her neck, the top of her shoulders, and her chest are polished smooth, but below the scooped neckline, the stone turns rough and parallel chisel marks are visible. Two dark veins in the marble run through the sculpture near each shoulder.